Falling Off the Edge
by uniquefreak13
Summary: Set after the movie a month or so, following the life of Iron Man's sidekick, Jex aka Crush, and Gemini, an Origin just awoken on Earth. Features all Avengers interacting with the OCs. High on teen language and humor.
1. Chapter 1

AN: My Owlet readers are probably ready to wring my neck for starting another project ever after I haven't finished my first story, but… :D I've had this character for a while waiting for a time to break out into the world, and I think this is her time. I think this is a good chance for people to see how a character can develop over a period of time. Not sure if this will get finished, but the person I'm co-writing this with and I are getting a lot done.

Important to know: This is set after the Avengers, so if you haven't seen the Avengers you shouldn't read this. It has quite a few Spoilers. Also, this is set with the idea that Loki is sentenced to be a mortal on Earth watched by the Avengers as a punishment for his actions in the Avengers movie. If you guys have any questions about the characters or the actions or the plot, don't feel shy to review or message me. Make sure you also tell me if I should keep going with this or just quit it and focus on Owlet

Chapter 1

"STARK!" Juliette Xanthrop, otherwise known as "Jex" or Crush, bellowed through the comms unit in her Iron Man like suit. "YOU LYING LITTLE SON OF A-"

"I am going to suggest that finishing that sentence would not be the best idea for you, Jex," Stark's cool reply comes easily through the helmet.

"You said the next time you got called to S.H.I.E.L.D. you'd let me come with you!" Jex spits angrily, flying over the ocean towards the beach lined coasts of Western California. "And when I turn up at your house, lo and behold, you're not there because you're AT S.H.I.E.L.D!"

"There is a good explanation for that. And unfortunately I'll have to feed it to you later. Meeting with the fan club, Jex," Stark says hastily, trying his best to get her off the line. Though she was only a teenager, Jex's wrath could rival that of Pepper's.

"This so isn't fair!" Jex groans rather whinily. "You promised-"

"I promise lots of things to lots of people, Jex. Please, take a number, get in line. My people will contact your people; we'll make a compromise, sound good?"

"Your people ARE my people, Stark!" Jex roars, shooting over a crowded beach as people block the sun from their eyes to get a better look at the newest sidekick the world had seen.

"Uh, yeah, about that." Stark goes silent for a moment, and Jarvis, getting the memo, cuts the link between his suit and Jex's.

"Sir, do you think it's a wise choice to handle Miss Xanthrop like that?" the computerized butler asks.

"Of course not. I'll be getting all sorts of hell for that later. But I can't worry about that right now, can I?" Tony asks shortly. "Especially not with this new crisis Fury's called the Avengers up for."

"Completely understandable, sir. But don't you think Miss Xanthrop had a right to know about-"

"Jarvis, I'm not even sure why I have a right to know. And Fury doesn't take too lightly to Jex, you know that. He finds her… volatile. Not that I can argue, really." Tony gives a tiny little shudder in his suit as he nears the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, a flying ship that has the ability to blend into the sky, like a sort of mechanical chameleon. In seconds Iron Man detects the ship and discerns a safe spot to land, cutting his boot jets and landing on the seemingly invisible surface. Instantly the ship shows up as Stark lands, and the bay doors to Tony's personal suit storage room open up from the ground. With his handheld rocket jets, Tony lowers himself into the room, letting the system he installed in the ship take off his suit and store it safely away where only he can access it. Once he's sure all the measures have been taken to protect the suit, Stark makes his way to the conference room.

As per usual, Stark is the last one there, seeing as all the other members of the Avengers team are gathered around the table. All decked out in his, according to Tony, "spangly" uniform; Captain America sends a slight glare to Tony as he ambles in 15 minutes late. The brilliant billionaire takes a seat next to Dr. Bruce Banner, more commonly known as the Incredible Hulk. Banner gives a little smile as Agent Cliff Barton, or Hawkeye, says the words that are on the tip of everyone's tongue.

"You're late."

"Fashionably," Tony replies calmly, as if the matter doesn't really bother him.

"You could at least attempt to take this team seriously, Stark," Captain America interjects, arms crossed over his chest.

"You all wound me, assuming I'm late because I just don't care." Stark takes out his cell phone which was already linked up with the Iron Man Armor's communication system. In seconds he plays back the call he just had with Jex and the entirety of the Avengers get to hear her whine to him. "That's why I was late. So unless you want an annoying little Iron Maiden running around Nicky's top secret tree house, I think my tardiness can be excused and ignored." He looks around at them all. "Agreed?"

His teammates mumble various degrees of replies, but most are intelligible and completely ignored, seeing as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, Nick Fury, has just stepped up to the head of the meeting table. The team falls quiet with only an occasional murmur of disgruntlement from Tony at the state of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security software.

"I know you all have no idea why I've called you here," Fury starts, looking intently from each member of the Avengers to the next with his one good eye.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Tony mumbles to himself, still tapping away at his phone, oblivious of the murderous look Captain America gives him.

"But there appears to be a low level threat in Eastern Asia that has come to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s concerns," Fury goes on.

"Low level by regular standards or S.H.I.E.L.D. standards?" Dr. Banner asks, earning a few dry laughs from the team.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. standards. There have been reports of a Meta human out of control. Injured 15 people so far, no fatalities, though it could happen sooner or later. The meta is reported to be a young girl, maybe around young teen years, who possesses particularly strong mental capabilities."

"You mean like telekinesis?" Captain America clarifies, earning a soft scoff from Tony at his labored pronunciation of the word.

"That's exactly what I mean. I want Agent Barton and Agent Rogers out there to deal with her if she gets out of hand with Agent Romanoff present for backup. We don't want this situation to get any more fucked up than it already is, understood?" Fury gives the two a fierce glare and Hawkeye and Captain America nod in unison. "Good. Head out now, that girl could have caused more damage than we know of."

As the Avengers file out to their respective posts, none of them have any inkling of an idea that Crush was already on her way to the coordinates give to Captain America and Hawkeye. Iron Man's rejection at tagging along hadn't stopped her from getting a tracker on his signal and rerouting the feed from Tony's phone as well as cameras at S.H.I.E.L.D. into her suit. Crush gave a grim sigh of determination, ready to prove herself as she flew to the destination in Eastern Asia, not having any idea of what may lie ahead for her.

Nick sighed as the elevator sank farther and farther into the ground, the temperature grew colder with every foot. When they had reached 5 miles below the doors swung open to a cold and vividly white sterile room.

"Hello, my name is 2256-S," the robotic man vibrated from a dimly lit desk in the back of the room. "Who are we here to see today Mr. Fury?" his voice was high and fuzzy. Definitely the work of

He walked towards the robot and looked into its titanium gaze "Operation Gemini Jarvis, I come to fix what happened and make things right." The light in the robots blinked as the voice changed to the familiar tone of Stark's robotic butler.

"Is Master Stark okay with this?" he paused then seemed to chuckle "Never mind Director, I trust you know what you are unleashing." The robot slumped over and sparked as the door was overridden and the darkness leaked into the room.

Nick zipped up the bag he had next to him and slipped into the cave like opening that spanned endlessly in front of him. "Damn, where the hell do you think I'm going to find her?" he mumbled into the mouth piece, it buzzed and crackled.

"The reception down here sucks." He mumbled as he stumbled through the darkness, as he slunk farther back into the hole he could hear the soft sounds of breathing. He shivered and felt along the walls for some sort of guide to the sound. His hand fumbled over a switch of some sort and braced himself for the sight he was about to witness.

The lights flickered on as his eyes adjusted he saw it, the metal bars that held her by the neck were shoved haphazardly into the walls, the chains bound her in place hung limp above a glass panel, Into which he saw a sliver of red light. The body hung and then he realized that it was not only one girl but two, hung back to back both bound to the walls and each other. Their bodies were almost one but not quite, covering their body was intricately spiraling tattoos. The air was sickly quiet, his breath rattled and the chains seemed to be pushed with his breath.

His breath rattled out of his body, "Hel-lo *Crackle* Nick?" the static hurt his ears as he dropped the head piece. The girls' opened their eyes with a snap; the blue eye of each shone a deep and violent shade while the brown stood menacingly on the other side. He stood alert in front on them, slipping the bag of his shoulder. He slid it underneath the girls and watched as neither of them paid attention to it.

Their cold eyes following his every move, "Ms. Gemini is it? We need you." His eye stared as calmly as they could into the pairs looking back at him. The girls looked him up and down, then to the bag. They smiled, their bodies began to split further into two, the beam groaned with tension. With one swift motion they ripped the beams out of the wall and sent them flying down into the pit. Glass shattered as the swung; both moving together as they grabbed the bag snapped the chains and landed delicately on the floor in front of Nick.

A smile scratched its way across from Nicks face as the girls headed to the doorway, "Just as I expected from such a well know woman." The girls turned to face Nick and smiled.

"We have been waiting too long Nick. But that's alright, 500 years… plus the 20 some in here; we should have a frickin' parade in our honor shouldn't we?" They both replied together, the smile vanished from Nick's face as they exited the cave.

"Shit we have another pair of smartasses to add to the mix." He grumbled as the rode the elevator back up to the top. As the air slowly started to warm the girls looked at each other and smiled, they were free from their prison. Grabbing onto each other's hand they blended into one girl. The change made Fury jump, "Do you do that all the time, because I don't think I can deal with that shit." A smiled went across the girls face.

The door opened as the eye in this new girl became blue, the sun shone on her delicate skin as the exited the elevator and into the facility above it.

The girl turned to face Nick and smiled "We haven't been properly introduced."

She brushed the long blonde hair from her face and smiled, her perfect white teeth gleaming in the light, she was young about twenty but had the look of age in her eyes. She reached for Nicks hand and fastened her grip. She laughed as she shook it madly.

"Hello, our name is Gemini, together we are Gemini… but apart we are separate, I'm Solas and my sister is Cròn, we have been punished for crimes we did not commit for way to long. We are tired and sick of the dark but we are happy to finally meet you Nick Fury we have heard much about the Avengers and you Mr. Fury." He blinked at the woman, "How did you…"

Gemini cut him off, "When perhaps will we meet the others? I know I'm dying too, we haven't seen people in what… 550 years." The girl looked at him with an annoyed look, Nick scoffed.

"Well which one are you?" She only smiled coldly and walked to the waiting car.

"Which do you want me to be? Because right now both of us are not too happy." She glared at the car and threw herself in; she was not in the mood to play games. She was going to complete her mission and then go home, to a place where they could live together alone, without people and without pain.

The phone in Nicks pocket rang; he grabbed it and glanced at the number. "We have the weapons, we are on our way." He slid the phone into his pocket and shielded his eyes as he entered the black sedan and closed the door.

Jex was going to be completely honest with herself, if she hadn't had Jarvis and the world's best GPS, she would've never gotten to Eastern Asia to begin with. The girl was directional challenged when it came to navigating Stark's property in the Californian Mountains, but in the air? Over multiple continents? That was nearly impossible. It was a long enough fly to start with, hours of non-stop soaring over countries she vaguely remembered from her social studies class, and countless reminders from Jarvis not to fall asleep as she was flying.

"I swear, Jarvis," Jex starts, shaking the sleep from her head as she zooms over the Indian Ocean. "Without you I would've already crash landed somewhere in the Mediterranean."

"Actually, Miss Xanthrop," Jarvis replies politely. "The suit would've course corrected on its own in the event you should lose consciousness, whether it be naturally or done offensively. Mr. Stark has your suit programmed to fly straight back to his house in any of those cases."

"Well points to Tony for thinking ahead," Jex grumbles. "And points deducted for not letting me come to the Avengers."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logically reason for-" Jarvis' sentence is interrupted as something very large comes flying at Jex, knocking her off her path. Normally she would've been prepared for any airborne missile or bomb. But she was hit by something that people very rarely find in the air: a fully equipped war tank, about as big as a short bus. It shoved Jex back, catching her completely off guard as it pushed her down to the Earth so far below her. Jex's first thought (the ones along the lines of "OH SHIT!") weren't very helpful in her situation, but once she'd realized what was going on the only thing running through her head was "What if there's people in there?"

Jex had never been known for her rationalism. In fact, most people thought of the girl as rather rash and blunt. So when she decided that in order for everything to turn out all right in this situation, she'd have to catch the tank. Jex was also not the most logical person in the world, and it did take her a few seconds to realize that it's hard to catch something that's hurtling you towards a vast amount of water below you. But Jex was persistent, if not a little idiotic, and with an exponential exertion of the suit's power, she was actually able to slow down the descent of her and the tank. It was about that time that she was smashed down into the water of the Indian Ocean.

Jex's suit wasn't specifically built for underwater missions, though Tony had one he'd adapted to do just so and was working on a smaller sized version for Jex. The suit didn't fail immediately as it was immersed into the ocean, though Jex knew that if she didn't get out of there quickly, she was going to drown under a tank in a million dollar suit, something that had never been on her To-Do list. With another surge of will on Jex's part, power on the suit's part, and some damn good luck, Jex was able to shove the tank to the surface. For a wondrous moment it bounced like a gigantic buoy in the water and was floating, something Jex would've thought completely impossible. Without wasting any time, she leapt atop it, ripping the top of the hull off and sticking her head down inside. She found the tank empty and she let out a groan of frustration, abandoning the tank in the water as soon as it had come at her. She took to the air, breathing hard from the tank encounter, searching the ground for whoever could've thrown the tank.

"Miss Xanthrop, you only have 23% power capacity left after your tank excursion," Jarvis reports dutifully. Jex curses rather colorfully at the news. Her suit hadn't been fully charged to start with, and after flying across the world in 3 hours and fighting with an empty tank, having only 23% power was a bad predicament, especially considering she had no idea who or what she was up against.

"Is my reserve power ready to kick in if need be?" she asks the AI hopefully. He gives her an affirmative reply and she's allowed to give a sigh of relief. She couldn't recall how many times in the past that reserve battery had saved her life in fights she had almost lost. "Good, because I think I see where all the fuss is coming from."

Down on the ground, just barely inland of the coast, was a huge array of tanks and missiles, assembled into a circle of sorts, with a single, tiny target situated in the middle. With the aid of her helmet, Jex was able to see their target was a little girl, maybe around 11 or 12, 13 at the most. She was a wispy little thing, with a thin face and a tiny body. Though Jex was rather far away, she decided that the girl looked overall very mouse-like, with defined facial features, like a pointed nose and chin, her cheeks gaunt and hollow looking. The girl's wispy brown hair flies around her face as Jex descends and comes to land before her.

The girl sizes Jex up immediately as she lands, a blank yet almost hateful look in her seemingly black eyes, a bored zombie-like look painted on her face. To Jex she looks like she's half asleep, not 100% aware of what she's doing. The girl only studies Jex for a few moments before her hand comes up and squeezes into a fist, as if she's doing a bad Darth Vader impression. Except, it wasn't all that bad, considering Jex had just become away that her suit was being crushed around the middle, as if a huge hand was trying to squeeze her into a squished version of Jex.

"Look, I know my name is Crush," Jex starts off, struggling to speak. "But that doesn't mean you should take it as instructions!"

The girl gives no indication she'd ever heard Jex, just continuing on with slowly trying to squash the suit and the girl inside it. Jex lets out a strangled cross between a gasp and a scream. Jex hadn't wanted to hurt the girl, but between a wounded Meta and a dead Crush, Jex was willing to go with the former option. The sidekick raised her arm, and with the dwindling power of her suit, Jex shot her repulsor ray at the girl who was attempting to kill her.

The repulsor ray did just as it was supposed to, shooting the girl backwards and releasing Jex from the girl's vice-like grip, no doubt possible because of the girl's "mental capabilities" as Fury had put it. Jex knew he was hinting strongly at the fact this girl was telekinetic, but Jex had no idea what other powers the girl could've possessed. It was completely possible she was a little pre-teen killing machine and her sights were now set on Crush.

The sky had turned darker, as the little girl sent both Crush and the dust around her spiraling into the air. "Shit, this is not going to be good Jarvis." Jex mumbled.

"13% left Miss, Do you want me to-" She cut him off.

"YES DAMNIT!" As quickly as her reserves had turned on the tornado stopped and she was flung down to the ground, she caught herself and planted both feet on the ground.

She stood wobbling, staring at the girl her eyes showed no mercy and that made her shiver, but she noticed one hand was planted firmly around her neck; her eyes seemed to be covered with black staining tears.

"Please," came a small voice through her tiny mouth. "Save me, Kill me now…" her voice trailed off into blood curdling screams as her own hand ripped into her neck, the blood pouring down her shirt.

Crush ran towards her but a force seemed to push her back. A pair of arms wrapped around her, "It's okay let me take it from here." A smaller woman held her back a warm smile spread across her face.

The woman flicked her wrist and a blinker pulsed in Crush's face, "What?" the suit spun up into the air and started to fly to where she had come from. Jarvis's voice mumbled in her ear, "You have been sent to a destination that is undisclosed, but I think it's the S.H.E.I.L.D base." She smile but knew the tongue lashing she was going to get. "Fine, but let me at least get some sleep," Her cool voice cracked as she slipped into sleep, her dreams were the same Image over and over again. The red blood. Fresh and red coming from that poor little girl's neck.

Gemini stared into the eyes, black and dark. "Shh, baby. It's going to be okay, tell me first what your name is." the body slinked in a circle as it analyzed its new target. She locked her eyes on the girl, a voice dark and hateful slithered from her mouth, "I am The Darkness; your highness should know me." Gemini stared with distain at the voice, "I know you yes, but I will not let a piece of hate and evil consume such a beautifully gifted child." She knew only one of them could stop him, She was going to let fire fight itself with fire, she slowly let the darkness consume her, her eyes became as dark as the little girls and her hair pitch black.

"This Planet is mine; I will never let a mutant shit like you harm my people." Her voice was no longer kind and forgiving, the light side split from her, "Do you need me to consolidate with the girl." She shook her head and ran towards the body as Solas slipped herself from the body they shared. Cròn spun towards the girl and punched her into the air.

Nick and Natasha watched from above, "What the hell is she! How could you trust that? She is giving off the same energy signature now as the girl." Natasha slung her gun out of her holster and aimed at Gemini's head. Nick slapped the gun from her hand and stared intently at the two women now fighting the girl.

"Anois mo deirfiúr!" The Gaelic words from Cròn, made Solas smile "Yes, now my sister." She jumped and both met the girl midair. To those watching time seemed to slow as both grabbed the girl, but pulled two things apart. One was a small child that was the girl, she grabbed tightly to Solas as they flew far from the other two.

The other was a mangled man, his body was distorted and black bones stuck from his body, his mouth had no lips and his many rows of scissor like teeth shone brown in the sun. His eyes were a deep black, the color seemed to pulse itself through his body.

His body heaved as Cròn smashed his body to the ground. He was defenseless without his human host as she let her body become its full potential, she turned to the watching humans, "I am sorry for what will happen…" she turned on the body lying in the dirt. Her body became mangled and distorted, Natasha's eyes didn't leave her as her teeth and claws tore its way into the man's flesh. His screams ran out to the sky as his eyes cried black blood stained tears.

Solas grimaced and held the girl in the air covering her ears as she screamed, her whole body was shaking. When a host is left there are still traces, she knew that, but still the small child in her arms feeling a sliver of the pain the parasite was feeling made her cry.

She sent a message to Cròn, _Please save her, drain him completely_. A dark reply came to her and she hugged the child closer. As she watched the man be splayed into two parts the girls screams became chilling, the screams were not for his death but the death of the girl herself. Solas tried to calm the child.

_He had a grip on her since she was an infant I don't know if I can… help her find herself maybe then she won't die with him._

Solas pulled the child's face towards hers; the brown eyes stared into hers with fear. "Please," she begged "What is your name?" her eyes flicked from one brown eye to the other. A shimmer of consciousness flashed through them.

"There you are my lovely lady." The girl continued to scream, Solas knew she had little time.

"I have no name…" she heard the sad voice in her head, so that's how she talks; she smiled and sent a reply to the girl.

"Then together you and I will name you." She felt a warmth come over the girl's body as the screaming lessened.

"You are strong little one, you are brave. I was named because I was a guardian of the light; my sister was named because she was guardian of the dark. What shall you be named after?" she felt an early memory come to her mind, a baby wrapped in a delicate pink blanket.

The baby reached out for a butterfly as it flitted closer to her face, the daisy around in the grass that she laid made the air smell clean and fresh. Solas smiled as a small humming bird came and landed on the child's hand. It delicately tapped its beak to the girls thumb, blessing her with its gift. She knew what to name the girl.

"Stellula." The name shook the air as the last screams from the dying man were gone from the air. The child wrapper her arms around Solas, Her voice had changed the pain she had felt being connected to a spirit of the darkness had been cleansed from her body. She spoke to her in the words of Solas and Cròn,

"Buíochas a ghabháil leat mháthair an tsolais." Solas smiled as she carried the child in her arms, she could feel a bond beginning to grow between the child and herself and so did Cròn.

"Where did you learn such beautiful Gaelic?" the child smiled and nuzzled her neck as she drifted to sleep, "From you both, my mothers." The words echoed in their ears. They had saved this child, Cròn grumbled as they walked towards the awaiting aircraft.

"Mother… Seriously?" Solas could feel a smile cross Cròn's face. Solas turned to face her, the blood of the thing still covered her but the darkness had receded. She smiled and grabbed her hand as they sat the child between them in the plane.

Nick looked at the two women and the child, "I have bargained for more than I expected, huh?" Natasha turned to face him, "I kinda like the way they kicked ass that quickly." The plane jolted to life as nick sat next to the girls.

"We have a new mission for you two; there is someone who is dying for you to be his guardian." He smiled and buckled himself in. The two women slowly blended into one again. She held onto Stellula and looked mockingly at Nick.

Gemini turned to face him, replying in unison "Is he cute?" The comment made Natasha laugh.

Nick looked at her and smiled putting his arms over his lap, "I have a feeling you will like him." Natasha tried to hide her snort as a delicate cough at Nick's reply. "Yeah girls, he's the normal ray of sunshine."


	2. Chapter 2

Jex was both shocked and surprised that her suit got her back to America, much less a flying ship that was hovering over the Atlantic Ocean. She supposed it might have had something to do with whatever that woman had put on her suit but she couldn't be sure. One thing she was sure of, however was that when she got onto the ship, Tony was going to be more than pissed off at her. Her suit led her to the invisible ship and landed solidly on the surface. The ground seemed to open up, grabbing at her suit as it attempted to remove the now crushed and almost completely useless armor. It wasn't surprising when the suit wouldn't come off cleanly, and Jex gave a sigh as Jarvis announced he'd have to cut her out of the suit using. Jex looked away as the advanced laser system began to make incisions in the reinforced metal.

After a while the uncomfort of the crushed suit was starting to dawn on Jex, considering her adrenaline rush had now died off. Her breaths became shorter as she tried to compensate for the crushed metal that was slowly forced her to suffocate. She waited at least 20 minutes before Jarvis could get the entire suit off, and she wasn't surprised to see deep lacerations along her stomach where the sharp metal had torn through the shirt she'd been wearing under the suit.

"And this day just keeps getting better and better," she sighs to herself, looking around the room for a first aid kit as well as a new pair of clothes. To her dismay she found none, and the only logical solution to her was to leave the room in search for the items she needed.

The hallway of the SHIELD base was much like those underground hallways found beneath sports stadiums and arenas. Jex prided herself on not particularly fearing anything, but the sensation of being trapped down here outweighed the cool factor and Jex could sense the suffocating feeling of claustrophobia creeping upon her as she walked on.

It was at least another ten minutes or so before Jex found herself in a place she could attempt to find her way around. She was in a lounge of some type, with comfortable chairs and an accompanying kitchen with a mini fridge. Jex scoffed at the absurdity of her situation. Here she was, walking around a top secret base, holding her bleeding stomach looking for medical assistance, and she'd been able to find was a nice lounge and a fully stocked fridge.

"Just my luck," Jex sighed. She looked down at the shredded remains of the bottom half of her shirt, pulling her hand away to see the sticky red blood stained her hands. She looked back up, hoping someone would walk in to come and help her find her way. No such luck was bestowed upon her.

That was, until, a large man walked into the room. He wore armor as if he were a futuristic version of a knight, with chain mail along his arms and a chest plate to protect him. A long, blood red cape fluttered majestically behind him. He looked startled to see the teenager in the room, with her pale face and ripped clothes, blood stained skin peeking out from under the shredded remains of her shirt. Jex opened her mouth as she saw, partially to ask him for help, though mostly to gawk at the fact that she was standing before. Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder. She gaped at him, not believing it was actually him. But there he was, looking just as surprised to see her, with an inquisitive and confused look on his face.

"Are you supposed to be here, Miss?" He asks in his deep thundering voice. Jex nods mutely at him, still astonished he's there.

"I'm Jex," she tells him, quickly adding on. "I'm Iron Man's sidekick. I was wondering if I could get some help." She pointed to the gashes in her stomach. The blood was drying, and she really liked the shirt she had on. The All-American Rejects tee shirt was going to need some major repairs after this.

A broad grin splits across Thor's face. "Then you are welcome here as if you were my blood! But I must inquire about your injuries." He picked her up and she yelped in surprise, "Let me get you to the infirmary quickly!" she laughed. "You don't have to carry me, I can walk myself." His laugh made her jump, she thought about trying to get away but he gave her a smile that made her feel safe in his arms.

"Oh, all right. Thank you though." Jex said with a little lopsided grin. She was getting rather woozy so it was nice to not have to walk.

"Of course!" He boomed merrily. "Any friend of Tony is a friend of mine, dear Jex. Come, follow me and we shall patch you up." He started down the hallway; she looked out the windows and realized just how high they were. It frightened her, she had never been this high unless she had her suit on. The idea of falling and not being able to fly made her shiver.

Thor chuckled, "Don't worry we will not fall… Well that is, unless Dr. Banner has another episode, darn near took the whole craft down last time." His laughed echoed through the hallway. "All because Loki called him a sniveling green beast!" she tried to hide her fear by giving him a laugh, what he had said did not help her fears. She closed her eyes until they had reached the medical bay.

Jex had been through lots of pain. She'd been shot at, burned, smacked around. And true, the pain from the cuts in her suit weren't the worst she'd ever had. It was the pain of her dignity that hurt the worst. The fact she'd been taken down by a little girl was more painful than the SHIELD agent that was giving her stitches at that moment. True, the little girl seemed to be extremely powerful and possibly possessed, but that didn't change the fact that Jex was beaten by a girl that wasn't even wearing training bras yet.

After getting to the medical bay Jex thanked Thor and let the agents and doctors do their thing. They asked no questions, only giving her sideways looks of disapproval. Jex could've cared less, quite frankly. It wasn't their opinion she was worried about: It was Tony's. She was sure that if she'd waited a few more weeks or that if this mission had gone successful Tony would've let her  
at least come to the SHIELD base. But now that she'd screwed up, Jex was positive this was her first and last time she'd see the inside of the ship.

"Miss, do you want us to call anyone for you?" she groaned and glared at the sickly looking doctor over her.

"No I'm quite fine, thank you." She plastered on a fake smile and hoped Tony would never hear about her little trip to SHIELD.

"Is it alright if we administer you pain medication? It may make you a little drowsy," the doctor asked. Once again Jex denied their help.

"I'll be fine," she said through gritted teeth, not from pain but from frustration. She hated having people waiting on her hand and foot like she was some sort of helpless damsel.

"If you say so..." the doctor looked doubtful as he packed his things up, turning the lights in the infirmary down a bit as he left with his nurse trailing behind him.

The doctor squinted at the girl leaving, he grabbed the phone nearest to the wall. His voice had been before quiet and polite, but when he grabbed the phone he slipped off his lab coat showing a black shirt with a SHIELD emblem. His voice was deep and gruff he grumbled as he dialed the numbers.

"Nick, yeah it's me, Banner," He turned to face the window, "An unidentified child has boarded the ship... Yes I do think it's her..." He nodded into the receiver.

"I will call Stark immediately." He slammed the phone down. "Damn sidekicks." he stormed down the hall to find a communicator he could call Tony with.

However, unbeknownst to Dr. Banner, Jex was already planning her escape from the holding cell that was the medical bay. She watched him disappear around the corner, waiting a few more moments before crawling out of bed as fast as she could. In the cabinets around the room she'd been sure she'd seen some extras clothes, and she was right as she found a SHIELD suit that seemed to be about her size. She slipped off the hospital gown she'd been forced to wear and suited up, grabbing her ratty Converse and tying them on. With a final sad gaze at the All-American Rejects shirt she'd have to abandon, Jex hacked her way out of the locked doors and slunk into the hallway. If these people didn't want to deal with her or give her answers, fine. She'd find them herself.

She entered a hallway made of only glass, she gulped and tried not to look down through the glass into the abyss of sky below her. This whole height thing was really freaking her out, she turned a corner and saw a panel of monitors shining blankly off the side in an abandoned room.

She stepped inside and latched the door behind her, it's loud click made her jump. She desperately prayed whoever occupied this room would not be coming back anytime soon. The monitors gazed back at her blankly, she could notice in the reflection a purple bruise forming itself above her right eye.

"Dammit, how am I going to get out of this flying death machine," she sighed and smacked her forehead against the keyboard. The bruise collided perfectly with the enter button. She yelped and looked up.

"Hello, what do we wish to look up Miss." she heard a familiar voice echo out of the speakers, she laughed in relief.

"Jarvy! How good it is to know someone here!" She placed her fingers on the keyboard and began to type.

"We need to find me a way out of here..." She could hear the computer thinking as it whirred and buzzed in front of her.

Jarvis changed the monitors to show a bay of planes. "This plane here plans on dropping off materials to Stark mansion in 3 minutes. I suggest you board it if you want to get out of here."

"You're a lifesaver, Jarvy!" Jex exclaims. She smiles as she begins to get up and leave the room as a single alarm starts to go off, softly but still there. Her interest piqued, Jex clicks on the alarm as she sees it on the screen.

"An energy signature? Its strong, too..." She tapped the mouse on the small red light shining somewhere over Asia. A name tag pops up, "Project Gemini?"

She glances at the clock on the wall, 1 minute left to board. "Jarvis, save the information on the screen, download it or whatever and send it to my suitcase suit in Cali, okay?" Tapping out of the blinking dot she pushed the chair in and burst out of the room. It had to be that girl... had they not stopped her? Running as fast as she could she headed towards what she hoped was the exit.

She was going to show that little girl. A smile spread itself across Jex's face, Tony would have to wait; she had some ass to kick. As she got out to the landing pad she saw the plane gearing up, nearly ready to take off. The pilot, looking down intently at his controls, didn't notice Jex as she snuck around the underside of the plane, quickly disengaging a panel around the landing gears and crawling her way into the belly of the plane. As soon as she got inside she replaced the panel, hoping that to whomever looked at the plane from the outside it would seem completely normal. After a few minutes of creative contortionism, Jex found yet another panel that led to the holding area of the plane. And it was among the boxes and crates that she hid, making her way to California.

The plane roared to life she sat quietly and waited to hear how close their destination was. But what she heard made her want to scream, over the intercom came an annoyed and sarcastic voice.

"Really, you're going to try to avoid me killing you like this?" Tony's rhetorical question made her want to throw the receiver out of the plane. The pilots looked dumbly at each other, Tony sighed.

"Captain of this craft, please turn yourself around and return to base," she tuned out his voice. Jex needed a plan and quickly. Scanning the back of the ship she saw it, a small, black backpack-like bag. Scrambling quickly from hiding spot she grabbed the parachute and wrenched the back of the plane open. The wind's howling made the pilots jump they spun to see her smile and jump backwards out of the moving plane.

Barely slipping the straps on in time she spiraled down out of the sky, the plane growing smaller and smaller. The wind howled at her ears and it was getting hard to keep her eyes open to see. She hoped to god that she was remotely close to California as the burnt yellow ground hurtled towards her, she pulled the cord and sighed as the fall slowed for once.

The parachute floated lazily towards the ground and she saw it in the distance, a shimmery house on top of a massive hill, a smile flitted itself across her face, "Suck it, Tony."

She knew the billionaire would figure out sooner or later where she was, but honestly that was the least of her worries. Ditching the parachute on the beach about a mile from the house, Jex began to trek to the mansion, thanking God she was in good shape even though she'd just gotten mauled by her own suit. Within 10 minutes she was finally to the house, her face red with exhaustion as she clutched her stitches in pain. She let herself in the house and made her way as fast as she could down to the basement where Tony's lab was located. Skirting around the various piles of trash, both the normal kind and the science-y kind, Jex made a beeline to the suit that was compactly folded to look like an orange and grey metal suitcase about 2 feet wide and a foot tall. Kicking it on its side she let the armor wind its way around her body until she was fully immersed in metal, blinking as she saw the diagnostics of her suit and the operating system flash in front of her eyes.

"You have a death wish, don't you Jex?" Tony asks through the comms unit. Jex immediately frowns, forgetting that he'd be able to contact her though he was still at SHIELD.

"Go away, Tony. It's none of your business."

"Oh really? Because, considering I made the suit you're wearing and I'm practically your legal guardian, I think it's kind of extremely my business." Jex cringes at his sarcasm.

"But you're not my legal guardian. Pepper is and she's on a trip in Italy. She doesn't need to be brought into this, it's her first vacation in years," Jex argues back furiously, firing the boot jets to life and flying from the lab. The Californian sky had never seemed bluer to the teenager.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, Jex-" Tony starts, immediately interrupted.

"You haven't asked me at all! All you do is tell me! You're just a regular adult, Tony. You don't talk to me, you talk at me. Besides, I'm all sewed up, I have a new suit that's all freshly charged. Nothing is going to go wrong." Jex gives a smug look as she makes her way to the coordinates Jarvis has given her, a small village in China. She sighs minutely. Two trips to Asia in one day? She was going to have some major jet-lag.

"Jex, you are going to-"

"Jarvis, disconnect with Tony, please."

"But, Miss Xanthrop-"

"Now."

The click echoed in her ears, she was free of Tony finally. "Jarvis.."

"Yes, Miss." He added quietly. She exhaled and cleared her throat.

"Cloak my coordinates. Disengage Yourself."

She could almost hear Jarvis frantically trying to find words, for a robot his emotions got in the way. She blinked, _I must have a death wish._

"Goodbye Miss. Do not get yourself hurt. You do know how to operate manually?" Jex sighed and did not respond. She could hear the slow shut down of Jarvis's systems from her suit. When he finally was gone the suit was silent all she could hear was her breathing.

"Okay," she replied to herself, "All I have to do is not fall asleep." She gulped and sped faster to the coordinate pattern blinking on the screen in front of her.

**********  
The plane had landed in an empty place, Gemini played with the hair on Stellula's head, and she sighed and picked her up.

"Nick? Where are we? And why are we bringing her here?" Nick turned to face Gemini.

"We can't keep her at the SHIELD base, for now she will live here with one of our operatives and your future teammate, Agent Barton."

"How do I know I can trust him?" Gemini demands. Her unconscious hold on the girl grows tighter though the girl doesn't seem to notice. Gemini stared at the wasteland before them, the mountains spiked up sharply in front of them.

"Do you think you can carry her to Barton's place?" Natasha placed a gentle hand on Gemini's shoulder, Gemini nods at the woman as the plane lands.

_She is so kind,_ Solas smiles and Cròn nods in agreement. Gemini smiles at Natasha and bounces the girl gently to get a better hold, exiting the plane as smoothly as possible. The slow trudge was hot and uncomfortable but Gemini persevered, knowing that the SHIELD base wouldn't be a safe place for the girl, for Stellula.

As they got closer to the mountains, Natasha pulled out a small black buzzer. To Nick it looked like a car door opener he chuckled, "That's your key?"

Natasha blushes and turns back towards the mountain, "He gave me one for today but..." Nicks laughter cuts her off and she presses the button as a timid smile crosses her lips. A door opened up from the side of the hill, almost as if it's a garage door, fanning up until the four of them can see a very tall wooden door. Nick stepped forward and knocked loudly on the door.

"Here let me get it," Black Widow pushes politely past Nick and pulls out a key.

"Just for today huh?" Nick laughs as they enter a nicely lit modern looking apartment, with a waiting Hawkeye standing in the middle of the room.

He scowls looking at Gemini. He'd been alerted that it wouldn't just be Nick and Natasha bringing the girl, but seeing anyone in his home, stranger or otherwise, did not rub well with Clint. He attempted to soften his stance as the four of them entered, Natasha standing a bit closer to him than necessary, something easily noted by Fury who smirked just the tiniest bit to himself. Gemini stood off to the side with Stellula still securely in her arms. The girl however, was cautiously looking around, wondering why she was having to be brought here.

"You're sure she'll be safe here?" Gemini asks Hawkeye sternly, like a teacher demanding why he didn't have his homework today.

"With all due respect, ma'am," Clint starts, his voice flat though Natasha can tell by the slight clenching of his jaw and his fist that he's annoyed. "This bunker has more security than the White House."

Gemini stared at Hawkeye, a little voice rang in the back of her head._ We can trust him, but I think I should test him first. _Gemini blinked at the small girl, she nuzzled her like a baby does and slipped out of her arms.

"_Hello, Clint Barton. I would appreciate if you kept those mean thoughts of my friend out of your head_." She walked up to the shocked face of Hawkeye.

She cleared her throat and her small voice came out of her mouth, "Can you handle, me Mr. Bird?" His eyes squinted.

"What did you-" She cut him off by picking him up off the floor with a single thought. Her hands twitched as she picked up the furniture set in the living room.

Hawkeye dangled above the others, "Okay! I'm good, just put me down." Stellula smiled and placed him gently to the ground, making sure to place everything back in its spot. A smile crossed Clint's face, small yet still a smile, as he said "Well you are quite something aren't you?"

He felt a strange connection to this small girl something that was prodding him in the back of his mind as if he'd remembered something he'd forgotten long ago. She smiled and ran into him. The embrace of the hug she gave him caught him off guard he awkwardly patted her on the back.

He laughed and shook the girl off him, "Sorry I'm not used to little ones yet. But do you want me to show you around?" she smiled and nodded.

"That would be great Hawkman, I'm Stellula. But I want you to call me Stella." she grabbed at his hand. Hawkeye forced himself not to pull away, squeezing her hand instead.

Gemini couldn't help but feel jealous at the instant connection Stellula and Hawkeye had shared. It seemed unfair that he'd won her over in seconds though he'd done nothing while Gemini had saved the poor girl from a parasitic demon. But Gemini brushed off the envy, down casting her eyes as she turned to leave the apartment, knowing that this was what was best for Stellula. Fury and Natasha had already exited the apartment, on their way back to the plane. Gemini sighed, following them out the door. Just as she was closing the front door she heard a frantic little "Wait!" And from the other side of the door came Stellula, running as fast as she could to catch Gemini before she left.

The girl grabbed Gemini around the waist, holding tightly in a hug. Instantly Gemini hugged her back, a sad smile spreading across her face as she smoothed the little girl's hair down. Stellula looked up at Gemini, thinking to her instead of speaking.

"_I'm going to miss you, my mothers,"_ she said, burying her face into Gemini's middle.

Gemini blinked back tears she opened her mouth to speak, the words that came out made Clint's hair stand on end, it was both sad and loving. " Nach bhfuil sé do go deo, mo daor."

_It's not for forever my dear. _Gemini watched Stella walk back to Hawkeye, his eyes bore into hers. _Take care of her,_ she silently pleaded to herself. Her eyes welled up, spinning quickly she closed the door behind her and ran to the awaiting aircraft. She turned to look back down at the bunker, but it had already been hidden, camouflaged in the mountains as if it were never there. Gemini faced forward, willing herself not to cry as she was carried to the SHIELD base, not knowing what else would come of this day.


	3. Chapter 3

Jex was immensely proud of herself as she got to China, one for not falling asleep on the way there though her body was screaming at her to rest, and two for successfully evading Tony in all manners possible. She hadn't heard a word from him since she'd left the house hours ago, and now that she was in Asia it didn't even matter if he found her. The hardest part of the plan was already done. Or, at least, what seemed to Jex to be the hardest part of the plan.

Once she actually arrived at the coordinates she was beginning to see the hardest part of the plan was just coming up, and it was taking the shape of something that looked to be the cross of a giant dragon and a dog. It stood up on its back legs and a was about 15 feet tall with razor-like talons and wickedly sharp teeth that looked like they could easily rip through Jex's suit as if it was aluminum foil. But the girl put on a brave face. As Jex she would've screamed as if the world were coming to an end. She wasn't Jex right now, however. She was in the suit, and she was Crush.

And she was ready to kick some ass.

This was by far the largest creature Jex had ever had to fight, considering she'd still been banned from knowing anything about SHIELD, so she never got to help out against Loki's army of Chautari. Though this monster was obviously smaller than one of those flying things the Hulk could take out in seconds, it was going to be difficult for Jex to defeat all by herself.

She resorted first to repulsor blasts, an obvious and easy choice considering it was the weapon that never ran out. The blasts didn't even seem to faze the beast as it stomped along, giant footprints crushing houses and huts. The thing let out a monstrous roar and in its path was a scared looking teenager, maybe a little younger than Jex, who was standing there, petrified with fear as the monster stomped towards her. In seconds she was going to get crushed, and even flying at top speed Jex knew she wouldn't be able to pull her out of the way in time. So the hero resorted to the next best thing: Distraction, also known as annoyance.

Jex flew up to the creature's face as if she were a little fly and he was a really pissed off human. The monster gave a thunderous screech, bringing one of its arms to bat her out of the way. Crush dodged it with a smile crawling onto her face, shooting repulsor rays into its eyes and nose.

She gaped as the creature only shook its head and tore it way through the remains of the village towards the girl. The cold black eyes locked onto her, Crush flew up but could still feel the beast's breath under her as it jumped to get her from the air. She teased it a bit, hoping that the girl would take the distraction as an opportunity and get the hell out of the way. Multi-tasking was apparently not one of Jex's fortes, for as she looked over to see the state of the girl she neglected to keep a watchful eye on the monster, which had brought of one of its giant arms and swatted her out of the way. Crush flew off to the side, slamming into a tree, effectively breaking it in two. The rest of her momentum drug her in the dirt, uprooting various other trees until she was finally stopped by a much larger tree, yanking her body to a sudden stop like she was in a car accident.

She could feel that her suit did not want to budge, "Jar- Oh shit, forget it.." She grumbled and tried to pull herself up though her fatigued body failed to cooperate. A pair of hands grabbed her and yanked her up violently, giving her even more whiplash than she'd already had in the first place.

"What piece of mortal waste did I happen to have bestowed upon me?" That voice... She turned to face her aid, scowling as she did so.

"Damn," Crush grumbled, wincing beneath her helmet at her injuries. She could almost swear that some of her stitches had come undone and that there was now a permanent bruise on her forehead.

The bright greenish blue eyes of Loki Layefson twinkled at her pain, "Ahh we have Iron Maiden's tiny female partner don't we?" He chuckled and stared at her with cold unforgiving eyes. "And to think you had to come interrupt my boxing match with my friend here!"

The creature lumbered quickly towards them, Loki grimaced and knocked her out of the way. He jumped and landed gracefully on the head of the creature. "My child, of mischief..." He stabbed the end of his staff into the head of the beast. "Let me free you from my game."

A blue glow surrounded the now quiet creature, it stumbled and fell. The force threw Crush back about 100 feet, she screamed and gnashed down on her lip viciously, hoping she wouldn't begin to cry as her old wounds became fresh and bloodier than ever. She couldn't even try to stand this time, her suit being of no help and her body not even attempting to respond. All she succeeded in doing was manually pulling the front of her helmet off, letting cool air wash over her sweaty and bloody skin. Jex wished now more than even that she hadn't shut Jarvis off. He'd have been able to put the suit on remote control and get her out of this mess. But now she was stuck here with a battered up body and an ex-god of mischief to help her. She was doomed.

She groaned but didn't fight it when a chuckling Loki picked her up. He smiled at her, "Should we take you back to that flying beast in the sky, or do you want to head home for a pleasant sleep?"

She glared at him. "Why would you take me to SHIELD?"

He glared coldly at her. "Well, I was called in by your troop of imbeciles for Odin knows what."

"And if I say I don't want to go to SHIELD?" Jex asks coyly, her vision swimming and there looked like there were at least 4 Loki's. She swayed in and out of consciousness as Loki sat her next to him on a log.

"Your nickel plated she-man told me to bring you back safely." a smirk crossed his face as Jex groaned.

"How the fuck did he know I was here?" she asks mostly to herself, closing her eyes in defeat as she fights the first onslaught of a terrible headache, no doubt induced by her multiple run ins with trees.

Her sight wavered in and out all she could feel was a lone arm wrapped around her and an annoying buzzing sound. "What the hell," she mumbled as the arm around her disappeared and was replaced by a forceful lift. Her head spun and she did what she could to not throw up in her helmet. The buzzing only grew louder, as she got closer and closer to the sound she realized what it was... the sound of a pair or rotor blades. Jex groaned.

"I guess I'm going to go to SHIELD whether or not I say no," a chuckle accompanied her last remark and she felt the cold seat of a helicopter meet her body. "And hell will meet me there with its wrath in the form of Tony Stark."

All she heard as she angrily drifted into sleep was the cold laughter of Loki, she desperately wanted to slap that grin off his face but her arms no longer wanted to work.

"Jex," Tony says, jogging toward the girl as she stumbles into the air craft carrier that acts as S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters. The girl looks like she's been hit by a train, her suit is practically destroyed with her helmet missing. A large gash on her forehead leaked sticky blood so that her whole face was painted a brownish red. She looked half asleep, as if she were the losing the fight to keep her consciousness. "You're such an idiot."

"Nice to see you too, Tony," she replied hazily. She's so unsteady on her feet she has to be helped inside by Loki.

"Even with a suit of armor the puny human can't protect themselves," Loki scoffed not unkindly.

"Hey, I almost died," Jex slurs. "Cut me some slack."

"What were you thinking?" Tony demands, storming up to his surrogate daughter. He grabs her by the shoulders to keep her from swaying on her feet.

"I was being the hero, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" She rasped. Her eyes flutter and for a moment everyone expects her to pass out.

"I can't believe you!" He roars, shaking her by the shoulders ever so slightly. Her head bobs back and forth as if she's a rag doll. "You could've gotten hurt-"

"Did that already, dude." She points meekly at her forehead where the cut is crusted with black blood.

"I'm serious, Jex!" He says. "You could've died out there."

"I got saved by an ex god of mischief, I was never really in danger in the suit, you know?" Jex is rambling now, on the edge of consciousness. "It could've been a lot worse, I could've gone one on one with one of those sea monster flying things you guys fought last week. Speaking of which, when am I gonna get my invite for the super-secret boy band anyway?"

"She needs to get medical assistance," Tony spits out, turning to those who were standing around them, which consisted of Loki, Black Widow, Thor, and Steve Rogers who had just joined the group. He came just in time to see Tony crush Jex into a monstrous hug.

It was now hard to believe Jex was conscious at all. Her eyes finally fluttered closed. All she managed to say before she completely passed out was "Thanks for caring, dad." She slumped over and Tony huffed with the effort of holding a girl up while she was completely suited up. Everyone stared at Tony with wide, surprised eyes. None of them, especially not Steve, had seen this side of Tony. The tender, caring... Father-like side of the Iron Avenger.

He looks around at them, face red with exhaustion. "What?" He asks as if nothing had actually happened.

They looked as Tony carried the unconscious girl into the medical bay doors, "Wow, that's not Tony." smirked Steve, he turned and guided everyone back inside. The change in temperature made them all shiver. Everyone headed back to where they had been; almost leaving Loki standing alone, Steve stopped in his tracks and turned to see him with his body casually draped along the far doorway.

"Are you going to explain to me now why I was called in here at 4 in the morning, only to scrape the crushed insect spawn of Tony?" Steve turned and walked closer to face Loki, his face mere inches from his.

"Listen bud, Nick called you not us; as a matter of fact we had to almost go bring you back in handcuffs after that little stunt you tried to pull in New York the other week." The growl in his throat made the small smile on Loki's face become a wide grin. He placed his hands in front of him and shoved Steve out of the way; it took everything in Steve's body to not punch the smug grin off his face.

Loki tromped his way to the desk that Nick stood at. The light made his eyes hurt and that annoyed him deeply, but what annoyed him more was the smile that Nick held on his face. "Welcome back, how have you been?" he blandly asked with little question in his voice.

"We have made a room for you're here your highness," That word made his scowl grow bigger, he followed behind Nick wishing he could stab a knife in his back. The hallways were clean yes, but he was not going to stay in this air born hell hole. The hallway was bright and he hated that his shoes clicked every step he took. For some reason he felt that today was going to piss him off.

He ran into Nick as he stopped in front of a large blue tinted wooden door. "Ugh, so is this the door to my prison cell?" he smirked as Nick opened the door to let him in. The room was wonderful, it was exactly to his liking and that stunned him, "We had Thor help us with the designing." That name made him growl. As politely as he could he motioned Nick to leave the room and to leave him alone.

"Well I will see you Loki, but there is a surprise for you in here somewhere…" Nick chuckled to himself. "Somewhere in your massive apartment is your new babysitter, He turned and laughed at the shocked face of his newest tenant.

"Since your little scene at the Empire State Building we have requested this person to look after you," He turned and opened the door, "Oh and don't piss her off."

Loki gaped as Nick slammed the door behind him; somewhere in his rooms was a sick human female that had been told to guard him. The notion made him sick, he was going to find this Girl… And make her wish she had never been born.

The room was quaint and one of the smaller she had begun to put on her suit, the one that match Solas's personality not Cròn, she laughed as Cròn grumbled about the colors. "Calm down, it will be black for you. It's special remember, they specially made it for us" She mumbled to her sister, as she slipped on the bottom and had one arm through her door slammed open.

Spinning her around stood a tall black haired man, he snarled as she grabbed at the outfit and tried to cover herself, he laughed and pushed her out of the door, the force made her slip the other arm in.

She scoffed "Please let me at least get dressed, please." Her voice made his heart beat faster, she was beautiful he could give her that but the sniveling pissed him off greatly. Moving in time with her crawling he stomped towards her trying to step on the front of her boots. This was the girl that was going to watch over him, he laughed in her face and pulled her up by her hair.

He wrapped his arm around her and slid his hand down her back to the zipper that sat right above her lower back. She squeaked as he ripped the zipper closed, she rubbed her back as she backed up to the door.

"Get out in the hallway we need to have a talk… Somewhere private." He smiled and pushed her out of the door and out into the hallway. He guided her by the hair around the halls until he found it, an open door. His smile made her shiver as he pushed her towards the room.

He dug his nails into her arms as he pushed her back into the sharp edge of the corner. Loki's eyes both scared her and enthralled her at the same time. The heat from his body made her head spin; he saw the weakness as an opportunity and pushed her into the dark interrogation room.

She blinked as the lights flickered on, he stood against the far wall and stared at her with intense eyes, "Who the hell do you think you are?" he slammed his palms against the table. The force of the blow made her jump. He chuckled to himself "So they send some imp in a tight suit to be my guardian! What do they think I am some sniveling child?" he paced back and forth her eyes never missing a step.

"Well talk to me, you worthless human!" he lunged over the table and pulled her face closer to his. The force made her groan, the table was digging into her stomach. The sound that came from her mouth made him laugh. "I bet that's what you sound in the throngs of passion." He knew that would strike a chord. She placed her hand slowly on the back of his neck, and with one swift motion slammed his face into the glass table.

Stumbling back Loki gasped in pain, "Why you...!" he raised his hand to hit her and in a cat like reflex Gemini caught his blow in her hand.

Her face was red with embarrassment but her eyes held something very different, " Shall we stop the games now, I mean how old are you anyways?" the comment that came out of her mouth was heavily laced with poison.

He stood there motionless that had been the first time he had heard her talk to him with assertion. She glared at him, her body taking on a new pose than it had before… it was almost like she was a different person. Her voice made him want to be closer to her but at the same time to throttle her. Pushing down these new feelings he watched her walk to the far side where the door was. The clink of the lock made him smile, this was either going to be great fun or rather painful. But either notion made him smirk, she turned to face him, the mismatched eyes of hers boring into his.

"Do you know my name Loki Layefson?" she muttered "It's not Human or Imp, Its Gemini… Or whatever you feel is befitting to name me." That last comment made him smile even wider, "What to name you, I get to choose that? Kinky..." his smile made her shiver, from what though she was not certain.

Shoving away the last comment she pushed a chair towards Loki and beckoned him to sit down, he smirked and sat down with a huff. Gemini rolled her eyes; she did not have time to deal with such a childish Asgardian…. even if he was mildly, attractive… She shook her head and turned to face him.

"My name is Gemini," she started. "I was born on earth under the guise of a human child, when I turned of age they took me from my home and I underwent the transplant." He stared at her; she was hoping he was smart enough to understand what she was talking about but the blank stare he gave her made her think otherwise. "I am not one but two, the darkness found naturally in the universe and the light." She added the last word with emphasis.

Loki looked at her, now that she said that he could see the different eyes both held different gazes, one was innocent and caring the other a shade darker, not only in color but moral. He smiled and stood up arms still crossed. "Well, Well, Well… You're an Origin then aren't you." That word made her grimace, the name people gave them made her remember the place where the shades had been connected. Images of her in a tank covered by a black sheet made her eyes water up, the pain was still fresh in both of the shades minds. The darker side swelled and covered the images for the lighter side, she relaxed.

"I am not a mindless killing machine like the Origins; both of the shades are together in harmony." The words came unconfidently out of her mouth. Loki smiled at her and placed a hand behind her neck pulling her face closer to his, "Are you so sure about that?" Ha was beginning to see a fun future ahead for him.

He was going to have fun with this creature; he knew now why they had chosen her. She was the only living human like creature strong enough to detain him if he got out of hand. But one question hung in his mind as she walked towards the door.

"Why not a Male Origin, they are known to be stronger and more diligent in their work..." he trailed off as she laughed and spun around to face him in the doorway.

A smile pulled itself gracefully across her face, "They wanted you to experience someone a little more….. Well softer than that." She winked and slinked her way skillfully out into the hallway.

Loki stood their intrigued by that comment; his eyes ran down the curves of her body as she slipped down the hallway.

A devilish smile burned on his face, "I do think I actually like Imps wearing tight costumes."


	4. Chapter 4

Loki walked out of the room and headed in the direction of the commotion of men fighting down the hallway after Gemini. He watched her slink behind the door opening hiding her body completely in the shadows, why would she hide from the rest of the avengers. And finally it hit him, they hadn't met her yet.

"So your Nicks new gift to me… but he hasn't shown the others yet." She glared at him, and mouthed something he could not make out. This was his chance to have some fun, "Hello everyone." He spun her around and placed his face in the crook of her neck, he could feel her blush and held the urge to blush to. Being this close to her made him feel vulnerable, he took a deep breath but her smell only made it worse. He forced on a smile and turned to face everyone. "This is my new pet, and her name is Gemini. Say hello, my plaything." He pushed her forward and sat in the chair closest to him.

He tried not to laugh as she stumbled to introduce herself; it seemed that she too got off track when they were close together. This was an interesting predicament to him, yes he loved the company of women, but many were not attractive to him. They were either too shallow and vapid or just plain boring… but she seemed different, she seemed complex.

He gazed out the window and tried to put his head around how to deal with her, to be close to her was dangerous he knew that, but maybe that is want he wanted. The idea bounced around in his head, he had never been this confused about a woman before and it ticked him off.

Gemini stared at Loki as he gazed blankly out into the air, she sighed and turned to the others staring at her. "Um, hello, my name is Gemini and um-…" She trailed off and stared down at her feet. This was not going to be easy to explain because quite frankly she didn't know why she had been awakened in the first place.

Most of the team stared at her blankly, the strange woman they'd never seen before that apparently knew Loki and had two different colored eyes. With all of those factors put together, that would've made them instantly suspicious of her. But it was obvious in the way she held herself uncertainly before them that she wasn't a villain here.

Steve stepped forward with a polite smile on his face, holding a hand out to her. "Hello, I'm Steve Rogers. It's nice to meet you, Gemini." She shakes his hand only to be polite, averting her eyes from their faces at all times.

"Gemini, is it?" Thor booms, as always talking too loud for the occasion. Gemini can see Loki scowling from the corner of her eye as if Loki didn't like his "brother" addressing his personal pet.

"It is of best tidings to meet you, however the circumstances are not as agreeable." Gemini didn't know what he was talking about until she heard loud arguing coming down the hall toward the group.

Out of the hallway emerged a teenaged girl in ratty pajama pants and an Iron Man t-shirt. A good portion of her visible skin was covered in ugly purple bruises, and where her hair was brushed back against her forehead Gemini could see a deep gash that had been cleaned up and taped together.

Following the girl was a man in his mid to late 30s who looked like he was ready to kill the girl.

"I'm fine!" the girl shouts, gesturing wildly. "See? Not keeling over dead or anything! Stop worrying!"

"You passed out less than 20 minutes ago and you have a concussion and you've lost a lot of blood!" argued the man strategically. "You are about the farthest from fine as you can get."

"Nobody asked you!" the girl retorts childishly. Gemini is instantly reminded of Loki's initial behavior.

"Nobody had to! It's my call whether or not you'll be getting in a suit ever again, and after today those chances are seeming slimmer and slimmer." The man's carefully controlled rage is obvious in his overly calm tone. The girl gives a loud groan, just now noticing Gemini standing in the midst of most of the Avengers.

"Oh, hi," the girl says with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry you had to see that. He's not usually this bad of a worry-wart."

"I am not a worry-wart," the man replies though the girl has stopped listening. "You can call me a lot of things that end in wart, but they should never EVER begin with worry."

The girl has walked up to Gemini now, and the woman can see all the individual cuts and bruises that line her face. She looks like a war veteran though she can't even be more than 17 years old. Gemini smiles cautiously as the girl holds her hand out for a proper introduction.

"Hi, my name is Jex."

Both Cròn and Solas gaped at the girl, her voice was familiar. "Wait, we have met before haven't we?"

Jex looked more than confused as she squinted at the woman, hoping for recognition to hit her in the face. Why did she only say that she sounded familiar, this woman was weird and Jex was slowly starting to dislike her. "Uh, not that I know of..." She replied rudely.

Nick looked at Gemini, he glared at her and she got the hint. He didn't want people to know about the girl. Before they had gotten to the base, he had dropped her off in a bunker, the look that Stellula had given her as they sent her into the bunker broke their hearts. Gemini dropped her head and looked at Jex. "I...I'm sorry you sounded like someone else." She slumped to the side and let Nick talk for her.

Jex looked suspiciously between Gemini and Fury, but said nothing. She looked behind her at Tony to see how he was taking all the excitement. She saw he was analyzing the woman as if she were another one of those easy bimbos he would find at galas, as if he were imagining creative pick-up lines to use on her. The girl scowled at this, crossing her arms over her chest and retreating to the side of Steve Rogers, knowing Tony would silently fume at this.

Loki glared at all of them, he hated the fact that both his brother, Steve and the Iron man-child were gawking at her. He was boiling, he did not appreciate them staring at her.

Jex pouted as Tony didn't even give his sidekick a second look, still giving Gemini doe eyes. Didn't he even think about Pepper when he saw other pretty women? Sure, Black Widow was one thing, but a strange woman he'd never met before? That was just pig-like of him, at least, in Jex's opinion. So she decided to do something about it, distract him from the woman. And the only way she thought to do was to whine, something she was quite adept at. She turned to Loki, glaring at him as she did so.

"I didn't need your help, you know," she tells him coldly, knowing full well she did. Loki's blue eyes scanned slowly to meet hers, she shivered. That should do it, she thought to herself.

"I'm sorry, you little Impling, but when your suit malfunctioned as you were doing god knows what-" She cut him off.

"I'm so sorry that I wanted to stop the mutant dog thing that was terrorizing that small village in China." He glared at Jex at her sarcastic reply.

"It was not my fault!" He screamed.

Nick turned to face Loki, "What wasn't your fault?" The skin on Loki's face grew red.

Thor groaned. "You did not unleash an Ahky for target practice again, brother?" Thor rolled his eyes and smacked Loki on the back, he recoiled from the touch.

"Yes, I did! And it would not have gotten out of hand if this, this... this sniveling piece of scrap metal hadn't intervened! It was the fault of her and her damn metal suit, she is not a god! Why does she deserve to fly like one?" He slammed his hand into the table leaving a slight crack.

"You're calling me sniveling when you're the one who was kicked off the planet, had his godliness taken away and now has to have a baby sitter?" Jex coughed a rude sounding laugh. "Please, explain to me how that's supposed to work out, Mr. God."

He pushed the chair he was sitting in towards the window, it clattered loudly. He walked up to the girl and placed his hand on her arm pulling him towards her. "Mark my words Slush, or whatever the hell you call your pitiful self. I will not let you live this down I will-" he was caught off guard as Gemini grabbed the back of his hair, pulling him towards her.

"Don't threaten little girls, it's unbecoming of a man of your stature." She pulled him down and jabbed her knee into his back.

Tony scoffed as the small woman proceeded to pick him up. "Well she is my type of lady." Jex slammed her fist into the side of his face.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" She demands, far more hostilely than she had originally planned on getting. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'll give you a hint!" she roars, dodging a punch from Tony that would've hit her in the face as well. "Her name is something that goes with salt at the dinner table!" The girl rounds on Gemini and Loki, who seem to be struggling in some sort of wrestling match on the ground. "And you two! For one," she says, glaring at Loki. "My name is Crush. And I'm no little girl. You have no fucking idea what I've been through." She turns on her heels, stomping from the room in anger.

Gemini snapped to look at Jex, "Stop!" She yells at her, the voice that came out was both cold and menacing. Jex froze, turning slowly to see Gemini sitting on top of Loki. His face is that of a wild stallion.

Gemini looked into Jex's eyes, they were not angry at all... they actually looked sad. " I am so sorry." She looks down and pulls on Loki's arms.

"He shouldn't have called you those things-"

"No shit, Sherlock," scoffs the teenager, interrupting her.

Gemini carries on. "-And I take the full responsibilities for him." This last statement made the scowl on Jex's face grow deeper.

"I don't care if you take responsibility for that piece of ungodly shit! Doesn't change the fact that I can't stand you!" She raised her hand to slap Gemini, but something blocked her hand. "Let go of me!" she screamed as Tony led her out of the room, mostly dragging her away from the woman and the ex-god she was pinning down.

Gemini stared down at the man below her, a snarl forming on her lips. "Get to the room now... I want to talk to you privately." The smile on Loki's face made her growl. "NOW!"

He pushed her off of him and stomped to the doorway, his body was shaking with anger. I'm going to kill her, and that tin-can, both of them. His fist makes contact with the wall, shattering the doorframe. " I may not be a God, but I still have my strength. I will not stand for these futile games!"

He watches as Gemini storms past him, that woman was going to be the death of him. The hallways were growing darker as they walked closer to his apartment. He was going to have a word with her, yes, but not one she needed to hear. She guided him back to the room and locked the door behind her. He snarled and turned to face her.

"You're a monster," she growled, poison dripping from each syllable. He smiled, he was going to kill her right now. He flung his body towards her, crushing her against the wall. She screamed and struggled under his weight.

"Don't struggle, it will only make it worse." he purred into her ears. Her mind spun, both with anger and intrigue. She was not going to let him push her around again.

"Get off me." she looked him in his eyes, he could feel tension but he was not going to let her win.

"Get off me, now." the voice that came out of her mouth was cold, he stared into her eyes.

"No," the sides of his smile curled, Gemini looked at him and smiled.

"Too bad." she slammed her head into his, Loki growled and stumbled backwards. The force of the hit made him dizzy, the room quite literally spinning, but he refused to pass out. Stumbling towards her he swung through the air to try to grab her. She dodged every swing and stared coldly into his eyes. The darkness began to etch the outside of his vision. He was not going to pass out, he pushed himself towards her, falling to the ground. He could feel her flip him over.

"Kill me now, I know you want to..." The venom slipping with each word, his slurred to scream at her, but the words would not come out. The last thing he saw was Gemini standing over him with his brother and that stupid imbecile in the flag suit, then the darkness swallowed him.

"Glad that's over," Steve mumbled as Loki finally passed out.

"Aye," Thor says gravelly, looking down at the unconscious form of his adoptive brother. "Though I am almost sure this could have gone in a much less violent manner, especially when the young Iron Maiden and Stark were involved."

Gemini glared at the limp body of Loki, He was such a nuisance but even then her eyes traced the soft curves of his face... he was rather handsome when he was unconscious. She screamed out in frustration and stomped the floor, kicking Loki square in the side he flinched but didn't wake.

"I cannot believe... You're such a jerk!" She stormed to her room and slammed the door behind her. Thor stood there and gawked at the slammed door, scoffing as he picked up Loki.

"You have found the one woman for you, my brother," Thor laughed and patted his brother on the back. "We should start plans for the wedding immediately." The last statement made Steve laugh along with him.

"Here let me get the door for you, we probably should get him strapped down at the infirmary... he won't be too peachy when he wakes up." Thor's thundering laugh made Gemini jump from her room.

After the two had left Gemini sighed, slowly pacing around the perimeter of her room. Her mind was reeling, with conflicting feelings of Loki, and lingering thoughts on the fight that just seemed to spring out of nowhere. Gemini wasn't even quite sure what had happened to cause Jex's outburst, but the words the girl had yelled at her stuck in Gemini's mind: You have no fucking idea what I've been through.

And it was true, Gemini really didn't know anything about this strange girl besides the fact she was the sidekick of the hero known as Iron Man. The girl appeared to be around her mid-teens, but that didn't tell Gemini much besides the fact that this girl had been forced to grow up far too fast in too short of an amount of time. The woman sighed to herself, wondering what could've possibly happened to make the young girl so angry on the inside. True, when she'd first formally met her, Jex seemed like a relatively easy going person, but once the fire had come out, once she'd started making accusations at Loki, the easy-going side slipped away to show the real pain and turmoil beneath the girl's skin, what truly laid inside of her. And it was tearing Gemini apart that she had no idea what could've caused it.

She sighed, both sides of her ached to find out what was wrong. You know how to get the info... we can hack the system... We've done it before... she grimaced.

As she slipped out the doorway and into the apartment she saw a drop of blood on the floor near the doorway. "Oh god... I didn't kill him," she said as she cringed and stepped around it and out into the hallway.

The way to the interrogation rooms was not that bright and she felt the guilt of what she was going to do before it happened. She didn't want to look up Jex, but she had to... to understand her and to be able to tiptoe around her next time.

One thing Gemini admired about humans was the way they thought their technology was state of the art, when in fact, they were about the least evolved in the universe when it came to technology. The woman smiled wryly to herself as she first hacked into the mainframe, opening the mechanically locked door to the interrogation room, and stepping inside. The room was tiny and dark, but she found what she was looking for: yet another door, this one leading to the archival room. After flipping on the lights Gemini was able to see how small the room was, with a single hulking computer monitor taking up the length of one entire wall. She sighed, sitting down in front of the computer in the chair provided and began to hack into it.

The process was almost glaringly simple and within seconds Gemini was already in the saved videos and documents area, typing Jex's name into the search box to see what showed up. She got no results. She bit her lip, trying again, this time using her code name, Crush. One result popped up, a video that was dated to have been saved over 2 years ago, simply labeled "Orange Crush Interrogation." Gemini looked around, feeling guilty as she clicked on the video, letting it play.

A bright light is shined in her face and she can't help but feel like she's being interrogated as if in an old movie. "Start talking, please. Start from the beginning."

"The beginning?" the girl asks, holding a hand in front of her face to shade her eyes from the light. "The very beginning?"

"Yes," the man says robotically, coolly, coldly. The girl takes a deep breath.

"My name is Jex Xanthrop and my age is 14. Actually, no, no it's not. Wait, I'm actually 14, but my name is Juliette Echo Xanthrop, but I go by Jex. Actually, when I was little, my mom would call me July, cuz she didn't like the way Julie sounded, you know?" Jex gives a little laugh, running a hand to get her hair out of her face. Her expression is solemn though as she chuckles. "I grew up in San Jose, California with my parents, Aiden and Charlotte Xanthrop. They were the best parents; at least, I thought they were.

You see, my parents worked at Stark Industries. As a kid I didn't know that, I just thought they were always busy. I didn't have many friends when I was a kid, so I was quite frequently lonely. They'd get me nannies, but I swear I'd have a new one every week because I'd drive those ladies up the wall." Jex gives another laugh, this one more sincere, a faraway look in her eyes. "I was a little prick back then. Still am, I suppose."

"Please go on, Miss Xanthrop."

"Right, right…" Jex gives a deep sigh, casting her eyes down before going on. "When I was 13 my parents died in a plane crash on their way to New York. They were working on a project, something called 'Project Clause', but we'll get to that later. Anyway, the last thing I told my parents before they died was that I hated them, because I was being a little spoiled rich kid. So they went off and died and after a week of being tossed around in foster care, I was shipped off to Los Angeles to live with my mom's sister, a woman we all know and love: Virginia Pepper Potts.

I instantly hated Pepper. I hated how she was trying to replace my parents, how she couldn't understand how I felt, and especially how she was just like my parents and never had time for me. Her job working as Tony Stark's secretary was a full time one and I was shoved off to the side once more. I became withdrawn and moody and a little bit depressed," Jex says with one of the saddest sighs the man had ever heard from a teenager. It was so earnest and miserable for a 14 year old girl. She looks up at the man. "Nothing leaves this room, right?" He nods his head yes and Jex goes on dejectedly. "That was about the time I started attempting suicide."

The man takes a few notes down on a pad of paper in front of him, gesturing for the girl to continue.

"I used to try and overdose. I tried to cut once, that didn't turn out well. I tried to go and jump off into a canyon but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Same with the time I got ahold of a gun. I stuck the barrel in my mouth; tears streaming down my face before I pulled the thing out, uncocked it, and finally realized there weren't any bullets in it." Jex gives a cold laugh but there is absolutely nothing funny about it. "But then things started getting better. I decided to start paying attention in class, learned a few things, got good grades, and turned my life around really. Summer came around and I found something in my life worth living for: Iron Man.

I was practically obsessed with the guy. Watched all the news stories they had on him, waited outside trying to get a glimpse of him, brought a camera everywhere I went hoping to get a picture. Never saw the guy anywhere but on the news. Then the night came when all that stuff was going down at Stark Industries, with Iron Man and that big guy they were calling 'Iron Monger', which I thought was a total rip-off of the name. But anyway, I watched the news the whole night to see the footage over and over. The next day Pepper took me to the press conference for Tony. I was so excited to hear what he'd have to say about Iron Man." Jex gives herself a smile. "And then I found out Iron Man and Tony Stark were one in the same." Jex pauses, taking a drink of water from the glass that had been set down in front of her, no doubt getting parched from the telling of the story.

"After that I wanted nothing more than to at least legitimately meet Tony Stark. I bugged Pepper about it for weeks until finally I did get to meet him. He snuck up on me talking to Pepper about him and about how I wanted a job from him. He offered to let me clean his lab for 200 a week. I accepted and started immediately. I worked for a week when he finally told me that he'd picked me as his sidekick. As you can imagine, I was utterly floored. 'Iron Man wants me as his sidekick?' I'd ask myself. It still doesn't seem real. He got me my suit, trained me up. We got the suit painted burnt orange and steely grey, and I came up with a name for myself: Orange Crush. Kind of juvenile, but I still like it. And then came the press conferences," Jex groans with the memories. "Those were boring for a while, but something good did come out of them."

"Continue," the man says dryly, taking Jex's dare.

"I met a guy I was crazy about, as stupid as that seems. His name was Donner and at the time I thought he was the coolest guy in California. Messy black hair, one eye yellow, one eye grey, and tan like he practically lived out in the sun. This guy had me floored. So we started talking and texting and hanging out. Sooner or later he figured out I was Orange Crush. Well, I kind of let it slip, but that's not the point. The point is, he knew about me as Iron Man's sidekick. He knew my biggest secret. But I didn't mind, because he had told me his.

Donner was something scientists like to call a 'bio-bot'. Bio-bots are ¾ robot and ¼ human, though they appear to be perfectly normal. I could've cared less if Donner was mostly a robot or not, I was still crazy about him. We started dating and then things started getting stressful on the Orange Crush front. Some information about me was leaked, I was being stalked by this kid with a camera, and people were starting to get really suspicious about me. My stalker, nephew of a newspaper reporter, ended up spilling my secret identity all over the news. Everyone knew I was Orange Crush, but it didn't matter, because all at the same time, I found out why exactly my parents had died."

"Pray tell why," the man says dryly, almost sarcastically but with little to no emotion.

"My parents got on that plane to New York to work on Project Claus. A project that was for the company they worked for, especially assigned to them by the CEO of that company. My parents worked for Stark Industries, and Tony Stark was the one who called them up and told them to go on that plane abruptly. So my parents went to go work on Project Claus, but they died on the way there." Jex's jaw is clenched frighteningly tightly yet she goes on. "But wait, there's more. The people who made Donner and all his fellow 'siblings' as he called them, were people who worked with my parents at Stark Industries."

"So you're trying to say…"

"Yes. My parents died in a plane crash on their way to engineer my boyfriend. As you can imagine, I was extremely pissed off by the news. I wouldn't talk to anybody for days, not Donner or Tony or Pepper. I actually ran away a few times but always found my way back to Pepper's house, a place I still can't bring myself to call home. Nothing was really the same after that. I don't feel like I can trust anyone anymore, especially not Tony and Pepper."

"What happened to Donner and his siblings?"

"Most of them were taken back into the lab permanently, something about glitches in their programming, not human enough or too powerful or something. I dunno. Donner is still out there, though. I haven't seen him in months. Oh, you know why they called it Project Claus? All of the bio-bots names are reindeer names." Jex cracks a smile and it looks real this time. "I'm not even kidding. There was a Dasher and a Prancer. I met Comet once, he was a total jerk. Blitzen wasn't so bad, though. I don't know what's going on with the Project now. I could look into the Stark mainframe and see, but I just don't want to know."

"I see," the man says monotonously. "Anything else you have to tell me?"

"This light is killing my eyes. Mind turning it down?"

"I meant about your history."

"I know. Jeez, is everyone around here so serious all the time?" Jex grumbles. "I think that's pretty much all, actually. Nothing interesting has really happened after that. Everything is pretty straightforward. Well, as straightforward as things can be when you're a superhero and everyone knows it's you under the mask. I've had a few attacks on my life, not near as many as Tony or even Pepper, but my fair share for a girl of 14, you know?"

The man takes a few more notes. "Is that all you have to say, Miss Xanthrop?"

"Is that all you want me to say?" she asks. The man doesn't answer and she gives a heavy sigh.

"Yes, that's all I have to say."

"Then thank you for your time," the man stands up, reaching up to shut the camera that had been trained on them off. Before it switches off Jex turns to face it, giving the camera a devilish grin and a wink, the last thing Gemini sees before the screen goes completely black. The woman sits there for a moment, not quite believing what she sees when she finally realizes there is someone standing behind her.

Gemini whirls around to see Jex who's standing with a cocked hip and a water bottle full of some strange looking green liquid. Jex looks relatively calm with the barest traces of moisture in her eyes as Gemini analyzes her. The two girls look at one another for a few minutes before Jex swallows her strange green drink and speaks up first.

"Enjoy the show?" she asked coldly. Gemini can instantly tell that the girl standing before her isn't the same girl from the video. She's not only 2 years older, but she's been through so much more, it's evident in her eyes. She's not the little fan girl she used to be. She's actually matured, whether she wanted to or not. Gemini didn't want to imagine what Jex had seen that had forced her to make the transition from a girl to an adult before she'd even made it to 18.

Gemini doesn't respond, so Jex goes on, continuing the conversation as if she did. "I thought the wink at the end was a bit cheesy, you know?" Normally the conversation would sound light hearted, but the disdain in the 16 year olds voice is obvious. She turns away from Gemini and leaving the room with another swig of the strange green drink, walking away as if nothing had ever happened.

Gemini pushed the car back quickly and ran after Jex, "Please, Stop… I just want to talk to you."

Jex stopped and turned to face Gemini, she laughed at her. "You don't deserve to talk to me, you see I'm not a perfect little girl, so I don't give a shit what you think." She rolled her eyes, "You're so stupid you know that… you walk all in her like a slutty big shot but you have nothing to do with me, so stay away from me. Mmkay." She smirked and entered the lunch room, leaving Gemini standing by herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Gemini watched her walk away; she sighed and turned to leave. The hope to somehow connect with another girl on this aircraft flickered away. It frustrated her, why did humans have to be so difficult!

She stormed around the corner, not paying attention. She ran into the tall burly man she met early named Thor. Her face smashed violently into his breast plate, she could feel the crack as her nose hit the metal.

"Oh blessed Odin, I'm so sorry my woman." He placed an arm on her as she stumbled backwards. She could feel the tears welling up and the blood running down her face. She was not a happy camper this day had sucked, she was shoved around but an oaf, screamed at for trying to stop him and another from fighting, and when she tried to become a better friend she was told to fuck off. She had had enough, she desperately wished to be back in that cave alone, away from these stupid humans who cared little for anyone but themselves.

Thor looked at this small woman in front of him, he could she her slowly slipping. "Please, don't it's alright we can fix your delicate face." She turned to look at him; his eyes were kind he was the only one who had been nice to her… that's when it happened she could feel the flood coming. She started to cry small at first but then it became louder and racked her whole body.

He sat there unable to comfort her, "Um, do you need a tissue?" he stuttered. She looked at him and nodded her head. He smiled, "Well I can do that, hold on my dear woman."

She barely noticed him pick her up so many things were running through her head, and the pain coming from her nose made the crying that much more painful. It took her a minute but she realized that he was running for some reason this made her laugh. He must have been really not used to crying her laughter made her raw throat hurt and it came out as a bloody snot filled gurgle.

When they got to the infirmary, it seemed to be empty. Her crying had calmed but she still was heaving as the spasms of crying slowed down. Her nose ached and the blood was now dripping down her neck, she could feel that some of it had spread into her cheeks. Thor had grabbed some moist wipes and a box of tissues. He nervously fumbled to open the wipes and stared at Gemini as she laughed at him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run into you, I should have looked up… I'm sorry I cried, I'm..." Thor stopped her when he placed his hand on the top of her head. She looked up at him with her blood and tear stained face. He smiled and wiped the dried blood from her face and then began to examine her nose.

"It's all right my dear; it was not your fault." He looked blankly at her nose; she could feel that he did not know what he was doing. He tapped her nose and she yelped, he flinched and grabbed her hand "I'm greatly sorry, I have no idea what to look at specifically, I feel we should get a medical staff member to examine your nose."

Thor sighed; this poor creature had had a horribly rough day. Partially because of his dear half-brother, he grimaced "I will find medicinal help and bring them swiftly to aid you." She smiled and watched him bow slightly and leave. She rested against the chair and stared out the window, it ocean was shining from the suns ray. For the first time that day she truly relaxed.

Loki sat at the window, he watched Thor carry in Gemini and fumble around with her bloodied nose. He wanted to leap and kill him for hurting her… or maybe he did, his head was fuzzy and he couldn't get up quickly. His head spun as he watched her cry in front of his so-called brother. He had watched her comfort her, the moment he placed his hand on her head. The urge to kill him grew stronger; he slinked out of the chair and waited until they both left.

To his surprise he watched Thor leave her alone in a reclining chair; her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying, the thought of her crying made her chest hurt, he growled deep in his throat. "Damn Minx… Bewitching me like this." He watched her gaze dreamily towards the window; she seemed to be falling asleep. He slipped the door open as her eyes closed. He quietly tried to close the door but his head was still acting up and it slammed.

Her eyes burst open and a grimace crossed her face, she put her hands up to her newly bruised nose. She stared at him but said nothing, a look of fear in her eyes. He moved forward to her and watched her whole body retract.

"You think I would hurt you?" he questioned, her reply came with a sarcastic snort and then a yelp of pain. He flinched and he realized the idiotic nature of that sentence. She moved her hand to grab a tissue; Loki saw this as an opportunity and grabbed one for her. She flinched as he grabbed her head, she struggled slightly but the pain in her nose made her stop.

She looked away from Loki as he began to clean her face, "Good Gods, he botched the meager task of cleaning your nose." He mumbled to her, her eyes flicked to his but then back to the left. He felt a pang of guilt.

This woman angered him; he knew that most would fall quickly for a man his stature. Why back in Asgard he had had seven more suitors than Thor did, not many had fallen for Thor. His eyes bore into the now purplish faced woman in front of him. Why, out of all did she not accept the feelings he knew she had for him.

A smile traced his face as her eyes flicked to his, she would fall for him he knew it. His hands traced her nose and she yelled when he felt the bridge of her nose. She glared at him "I'm fine, just leave me be… you've done enough today."

Loki could feel her retract from his touch when he went to help her off the high seated chair. "You need to stay seated with the loss of..." he stopped talking when she woozily fell into his arms. His heart started to beat faster as she looked up at him.

"I am fine… Let…me…go…" She wilted into his arms; he smiled and lightly picked her up. He smiled down at the sleeping woman. "Yes you will fall for me, I know it. Not many can resist my charms," he chuckled as she shifted and laid her newly cleaned face against his chest.

"But when you do fall I don't feel I can repay your emotions." he stared at her, and shook his head. He did not have feelings for this creature in his arms. None at all. He walked out of the infirmary pasted a dumbfounded Thor and Banner.

"Her nose is not broken, and the blood loss was not great… But if Thor touches her again and I will be forced to splay you like a fresh kill." He glared and continued to walk down the halls carrying Gemini.

Banner gaped at Loki and the woman, "Well look at lover boy, how long do you think he will last?" Thor chuckled and held a fist out to Banner.

"Three weeks at a maximum." He chuckled as Banner tapped his fist in agreement.

"Twenty Bucks? I say two." he mockingly questioned

"You have a deal, my monstrous friend." The smirked and watched as Loki turned the corner. He stumbled but forced himself to not harm the woman in his arms

"Two-Three weeks tops." Banner replied. They smirked in unison.

Jex stomped her way into the cafeteria of the flying craft, fuming silently as she did so. Noticing there were actually people occupying the area she forced herself to put on a little smile, looking more like a smirk, as she got her dinner and took refuge at an empty table in the corner. After the combined tongue lashing from Stark and the snooping from Gemini, as well as her dangerous excursions earlier in the day, Jex was quite frankly exhausted. She ached all over, especially after having her stitches put back in. Her head was still pounding with a monster of a headache, and she felt like she was one gigantic walking bruise. But she ignored all these things, choosing to focus on the fact that she hadn't eaten since that morning and she was practically starving to death. The girl took a bite of her cheese sandwich, munching it thoughtfully as she watched people go in and out of the cafeteria.

Banner was not in the best mood as he slumped his body into the cafeteria, the light was too bright and after the afternoon of trying to train with Hulk had made him emotionally weary. His hands fumbled for food, he didn't care what it was. Both of them could eat a cow if they wanted... one better than the other of course.

He walked up to a red headed ditzy looking worker, he tapped her on the shoulder. She bounced merrily around, but the moment she saw his scruffy face the smile flinched.

"Oh, yes we have some in today... but would you please eat it peacefully this time." she flicked her eyes to a whole that had been covered up in the floor. Bruce chuckled to himself as she vanished into the back of the kitchen. He stood there rather impatiently as he waited for his nightly snack. His stomach growled loudly making many people turn to face him.

Jex watched the man boredly, taking a sip of water through dry, cracked lips. The woman behind the counter handed him a large package wrapped in butcher paper and the man, who Jex finally recognized to be the doctor she'd had earlier today, sat a few tables away from Jex where she could still see him. He unwrapped the paper package and Jex could feel her face go pale and turn green as she saw the giant piece of red meat that was sitting in front of him. The man smiled a little to himself and took the meat into his hands, digging in voraciously as if he were a wild animal. Jex felt her head spin and the room got fuzzy. She tried her best to get to a waste basket, but her legs managed to tangle themselves up with the chair. The girl fell to her knees, retching the little bit of food she'd managed to get down since her breakfast.

Bruce lazily turned to face the girl throwing up on the floor only two tables away. He sighed and finished the meat, his stomach sighed. He had not eaten all day and that pile had help with the hunger pangs.

HIs eyes angrily traced their way to the girl on the floor, he sighed "What did I say, Damn sidekicks." He trudged sleepily over to the girl and grabbed her by the shirt.

"Are we done now-" he was interrupted by a fit of dry heaving. "Well doesn't matter, hold on tight."

He haphazardly grabbed the girl and swung her over his shoulder, this made her head spin more but she no longer had the urge to throw up.

"You just... just ate raw meat..." she said weakly, her tone colored with disbelief and disgust.

He chuckled, his voice was deep and raw, and "You didn't want the big guy getting all angry, did you?"

She confusedly looked at the floor. "The big guy... what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Banner is quiet for a moment before answering her, his tone threatening as he does so. "Why, the Hulk of course."

He immediately feels the girl stiffen up in fear. "Like, _the _Hulk?" she asks, her voice now only fearful.

He chuckles and she feels a deep rumble come from inside his chest, the words come out of his mouth in a snarled yell. "No dipshit!" He pauses. Jex shivers fearfully, she can feel his body slowly start to relax.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't too nice. Yes, I, Dr. Bruce Banner hold inside me _the _Hulk."

"Oh, okay then..." She's quiet for a few moments before she speaks up again. "Are you actually a doctor?" she demands out of the blue. "Cuz I'm pretty sure you gave me stitches earlier and if you were doing it wrong I'm going to be-"

"Yes, I am a doctor and shut up about the stitches, if you hadn't been fucking around where you weren't supposed to be I would have to stitch you." He jostles her and starts to walk faster, "Don't question the doctor, Honey. I could have had Thor or Nick stitch you up instead."

She scoffs this time, now seeing that he's only attempting to scare her more. "Please, Thor couldn't stitch up a teddy bear. That guy is a few Crayons short of a coloring box, if you know what I mean."

Banner stops, Jex gulping as he does so. _Did I upset him?_ He starts to walk again, his voice this time rather quiet. "Hey Hun, you see that detailed cape he so proudly wears. I bet you he stitched it himself with his own luscious locks." The laughter from Bruce made her flinch, he was really a rather confusing guy.

"He should have his own shampoo commercial, I mean, he has better hair than most girls I know!" Jex tries to follow in with Banner's humor, hoping he'd ignore every time she tensed up around him.  
He laughed loudly, when they reached the infirmary he set her down roughly in a chair next to him.

"Not here again," Jex groans. She hated hospitals, and she especially hated this mock-up version of a hospital. Banner's eyes stared coldly into hers.

"This is my domain," he held his head and mimicked Thor's regal gaze. "Do not mock my humble place of origin, you mere mortal." The way he said that made Jex burst into laughter, she quickly stopped with a very noticeable winch of pain as the movement made her stitches burn.

She watched Bruce grab a tube from a cabinet as well as a swab. He looked at her "Pull up your shirt please." Jex blushed red like a tomato and Banner only rolled his eyes as he saw her. "You're a little too young for me."

She looked dumbly at the ground, and lifted her shirt so he could examine the stitches. Opening the bottle he squeezed the cold blue gel over the stitches.

"AHH! ITS SO COLD!" Jex jumped and wriggled under Bruce. He pushed her down and stared at her blankly.

"Seriously how old are we?" he gently rubbed the the blue-ish cream, the burning she had once felt slowly began to dull.

"Mentally or literally?" Jex asks with a grin that's slowly working its way onto her face at the sensation of her stitches becoming more bearable. "Because mentally I fluctuate between 7 and 47."

He smiles and puts a clean bandage over the newly cleaned stitches. As he gets up she notices that he is shaking slightly.

"What's wrong?" she asks dumbly, his shaking was only getting worse. He turns to face her.

"Go g-get Thor." He stumbles over his words and she sees the pain in his eyes. Sweat begins to cover his face and the shaking only gets worse.

"Dude, what's going on!" Jex is now frantic at the trembling man in front of her. "Cuz whatever it is, I highly doubt there's time to get Mr. Super Model. Tell me what to do!"

Banner doesn't even smile at her weak attempt at a joke. He only raises a shaking hand and points to a cabinet secluded by itself at the far end of the room. "There's a syringe, g-get it for me."

"A syringe?" Jex pales. She didn't want to tell him that one of the only things she couldn't stand in life was being around needles. Of course she never claimed to be afraid of them, but now that was starting to seem like that was exactly the case.

He gasps and she rushes towards him, He angrily pushes her back, "Get. The. Syringe. Now." She could hear the struggle in his voice. Jumping up, she rushes towards the cabinet and forces it open.

"Which... Which one?" As she turned her head she could feel the change in the room, his body was slumped on the floor the green coloring spreading quickly over him. It had reached his wrists as she stumbled to grab a syringe.

_Antibody X_? She thought to herself as she grabbed the small red vial. Quickly puncturing the top she tried her best to suck up all the liquid into the needle. Her hands shook violently as she did so but a strangled yell from Banner was all she needed to get motivated. Jex practically ran across the room to Banner, her body shaking equally as much as the man's, but from fear.

"Why does it have to be me?" she moans quietly to herself, edging closer and closer to the man who only continued to get green. When she was only a few feet away he let out a fierce roar and Jex knew that if she didn't hurry, the "big guy" would come out. And then she would have some big gashes to stitch up. The thought of Thor fumbling over top of her with a needle and thread, trying to stop her insides from tumbling out, made her cringe.

Edging the last foot she stabbed the needle roughly into his leg, pushing the top. Watching the red liquid flood into him made her want to throw up again. She held all she had in and continued to push the liquid in. When it was all finally gone she threw the syringe away from her, backing up with wobbling legs as she finally collapsed into a chair away from the recovering doctor. Jex knew that if she could see her face it would be the most unattractive shade of green there ever was.

As Banner regained consciousness he rolled over to face the girl cowering beside him. "Thanks.." He gulped in a large breath of air "You did good, sidekick." He patted her on the back and stood up. She tried to attempt a laugh but all that came from her mouth was a weak yelp.

"I can fight giant hell like dog things mixed with dragons like it's not a problem," she starts, her voice wavering with each word. "But you put in a guy eating raw meat then mix that with giving people shots and I feel the need to vomit. What are the odds?"

He could tell she was rambling, but after what happened he understood. She stared at him blankly, "Can I... Uh... Can I ask...?" He turned to face her.

"Why did that happen? Am I angry?" She looked at him and let her overly inquisitive yet cautious green eyes drop to the floor, "No, Him and I are on good terms but sometimes we have spasms where we can't control each other, that's when I need the antibodies."

She looked at him with amazement. "Who developed these?" was the first question that popped out of her mouth.

"Me and Tony, if you can believe that." He gives a wry smile. "Fury had us work them up to be like a formula that would instantly combat the effects of, well, the 'big guy'."

Jex wrings her hands as he talks, looking uncomfortable with the situation. "So if I hadn't been fast enough... _He _would have come out...?"

"That's the general idea, yes," Banner replies bluntly but softly. He makes Jex feel dumber by the minute.

"Well then I'm a hero to everyone aboard this aircraft." Jex tries to play off her fear as mere uncertainty, then attempting to cover up both of them with fake self-confidence. Banner had never seen anyone work so hard to seem so egotistical.

"You don't have to pretend around me, kid," he tells her softly. She looks up at him with a surprised look on her face before her eyes dart back down to her hands that are still fidgeting.

"Actually, Doc, I do. That's the thing about pretending," she says softly. "You can never really stop."

Bruce chuckles under his breath, "Many of us here try to be real, but hey doesn't everyone pretend?" He turns to face her, his face cheerful. It makes her grimace "... But don't worry all habits are easy to break."

"Only if you want to break them," she mutters darkly.

Bruce shrugs off her last comment, "All of us have our demons, some are just more apparent than others." He faces her again, this time his face darker and colder than before. Handing her a tube of that blue cream, he touches her hand.

"We all have demons, the choice is whether or not you understand that and accept others problems. You're not the only one here who has lost their families." his comment made her tense up.

Her words are only a little more than a whisper. "The last time I saw my parents I told them that I hated them and that I wanted them to die. A few hours later they did." He squeezes her hand.

"I know... I'm sorry Tony explained it to us. But you can't push others out because you said something when you were younger." his eyes became hard. "If I looked at how many innocent people I have killed in a rage... I couldn't live with myself... but the past is the past."  
He gets up, walking to face out towards the lone window in the room. "I can never change what I did... and neither can you. All we can do is make what we have now the best we can."

"What are you, some Hallmark card?" Jex asks with a shaky laugh. She brings up a hand to wipe away tears that threaten to fall. Bruce smiles but doesn't meet her eyes, she stares at him standing there calm and collected, when inside raged the monster that had killed so many.

They sat together quietly for a while, the sounds of the creaking ship pushing their way throughout the silence. She took deep breath and sighed. " Thanks for the stuff, Doc. I'll, uh, catch you later." She hopped off the chair and turned to leave.

"Wait." His voice broke through her thoughts, "My door is always open. I may be one the most volatile guys on the ship, but we're both pretty good listeners. Him and I." Jex chuckled and turned to face him.

"Thanks for the offer, Doc." She's almost all the way out the door when she turns, looking at him straight on, her eyes uncharacteristically serious. "One last thing."

Banner doesn't reply, only looking at her curiously, telling her to go on.

"My name isn't Sidekick," she tells him, a smirk peeking through her facade. "It's Jex."

He smiles and waves her away. "Whatever, Sidekick." He lifts his eyes up to meet hers. She laughs and exits into the hallway

He listens to her footfalls slowly get farther and farther away. "Goodbye Juliette." A broad grin crosses his face as he sighs and starts to clean up the mess left from their little adventure.

"Damn Sidekicks."

It was dark when she finally woke up; the bed she was laying in was made of a shimmery silk like fabric. The blankets swaddled her gently in a ball, she sniffed and frowned. Her nose was still killing her plus she had no idea where she was… All she could remember was his eyes and then dreams of a flowering field of daisies.

She moved and stretched her legs out; they pushed through the cold sheets and made her shiver. Turning over she felt something made of a heavier material on top her. Sitting up and letting her eyes adjust she realized it was a green cloak; it was large and covered her completely. So she was in a foreign bed covered by someone's cloak… she cocked her head to the side and struggled to remember anything. As she looked around she saw a clock, it shone a deep red.

"1:52… at night?" She questioned to the cold air.

She slipped out of the sheets and shivered, she looked down and gasped. She had her undergarments on but her suit was gone and a long oversized shirt had replaced it. Looking around franticly she scanned the room for her clothes but could not find them… she was alone in this room with no clothing. She slipped the cloak around her and took a deep breath.

Turning to face the door she realized there was a faint light coming from underneath it, she pulled the cloak tighter around her and went towards the door. She slowly opened it and adjusted her eyes to the dim light of a television playing an old black and white film.

Stumbling in the dim light she realized where she was, quietly she walked around the large black couch to see a sleeping Loki on the couch, his hand rested on the back of the couch and his legs had sprawled off the end.

He looked like to her an oversized child, this made her laugh quietly in the darkness. It hurt when the sound came out and she winced and blinked back tears. He shifted in his sleep, she looked at his outfit. He still wore the garb of an Asgardian prince, the metal braces around his wrists and the belt made it look rather uncomfortable to sleep in. not to mention the long sturdy coat he wore covered in places with some sort of chain metal.

"Should I?" Cròn smiled. _It will be fine_ _he was kind to us we should repay the favor. _Solas and Cròn agreed this was just a kind favor.

She slid quietly towards him and proceeded to remove all metal from his body, it was hard to do it quietly and without him waking but by the time she was done he was laying peacefully in his boots, pants, and undershirt. He was as tall as his half-brother, though he wasn't as large body-wise as Thor; his body was still muscular, they could both feel the urge to touch where the ties of his shirt had come undone.

_Stop, it's time to go_. Solas whined; she was not too fond of being close to him for too long. Cròn grumbled. She would have enjoyed that.

Gemini stood and with one hand gathered the multiple items she had collected off of him, and the other draped the cloak over him. She smiled; both of them agreed he was rather peaceful when he slept. Opening the door to what she assumed was his room she made the bed and folded all of his items and placed them neatly on the foot of his bed.

Yawning she walked to her room, as she passed the couch she made an effort to not look at him sleeping there. She could hear his steady breathing and tried to stop her face from flushing red as she closed the door to her room behind her.

_I like him,_ Cròn giggled.

Solas grumbled, _it's time for bed, stop talking nonsense…_

Gemini lay quietly on the bed; they both had felt that same when they saw his chest. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. She could not get attached to some man like him; he was quick to blow and had a rather short fuse. She groaned and threw the pillow over her head. This mission would not be an easy one.


End file.
